Carmelina Moscato signs for Stingrays

The Illawarra Stingrays Football Club have announced the signing of new Coaching Director, Carmelina Moscato.

Moscato has agreed to terms and will be joining the club immediately for all its 2018 football commitments.

The highly regarded player has represented, Canada on 94 occasions, has participated in 3 World Cups and also has an Olympic bronze medal to add to her long list of achievements.

On her appointment Moscato commented, “The aspect of this opportunity with the Stingrays that I am most passionate about is the opportunity to coach a group of female footballers that are a mix of young professionals and veterans, who are hungry to compete and excited to get better every day.

“For me, there is nothing more fulfilling than having something greater than ourselves to play for, and for this team that is the community and to be role models for the next generation of footballers. I want to play a brand of football that everyone is proud of and excites fans and young players observing.”

Recently Moscato has been involved in the Canadian U20 Women’s World Cup campaign in Trinidad & Tobago as assistant coach and has also served as Assistant, and on some occasions- co-head coach, of every youth National Team in Canada during 2017.

She also worked on staff with the women’s national team on two occasions helping prepare them for international fixtures.

Stingrays president, Brendan MacAlpine said “Our club is extremely excited to come to terms with a coach of the calibre of Carmelina. Her experience on and off the field will be invaluable to our entire club and for women’s football across the entire Illawarra and South Coast.”

Long term Stingray captain Michelle Carney commented, “When the club made the decision to engage Carmelina I was over the moon. It will be great to team up with her again after our W-League days at Western Sydney Wanderers.

“She was an amazing player and is going to be an even better coach. Her knowledge of our game is first rate and she is going to have a very positive influence on everyone around her.”

Following on from securing Carmelina for the 2018 season, the Stingrays have also appointed, Nick Leman as High-Performance Manager. Nick has previously worked with A-league club Melbourne City from 2012-16 and is currently Performance Director at the Seattle Reign FC in the USA NWSL. He brings a wealth of passion, expertise and experience to the role and complements Moscato perfectly.

The combination of Moscato and Leman began planning immediately.

“When I partnered with Nick and we developed the off-season program for the Stingrays, we had a vision on how the team would look and feel come the beginning, middle and hopefully the Grand Final time. We are both committed to building a professional environment on and off the field to allow the players to excel and reach their full potential.” explained Moscato.

The recent signings will significantly enhance the Stingrays coaching and performance structure and the club is looking forward on building even further on their successes in 2017, where the Stingrays returned to finals football, qualifying for last year’s Grand Final.

The Stingrays have led the way for women’s football across the Illawarra and South Coast and continue to deliver on their commitment to grow and develop the game across the region. The appointment of Moscato will further build on the strong foundations the Stingrays have built over the year.